The Potter's and the Philosopher's Stone
by LittleMissMopet
Summary: Harry and Bella Potter believe that they are ordinary children - until a whole new world begins to unfold before their eyes. A world of magic, spells and potions that turns everything they knew on it's head. Follow them in their journey to find out who they really are. AU, Canon Couples Eventually, Rated K .
1. Chapter 1

**Another cross-over that I've had in the works for quite some time. Fair warning: I was using the book as a prompt so they are very similar in plot structure…. Just more my style than JK's. **

**Just to warn you all, it's very similar to the original story at the beginning as nothing really changes until they are introduced to the magical world. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the character and most of the plot….. **

– Chapter One –

The Ones Who Lived

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were never involved in anything strange or abnormal because, of course, as they would say 'Such a disruption in the community shouldn't be allowed'. But of course that was all a front to hide their real objections.

Mr Dursley was a fairly large man, who worked for a company that made drills and had recently been promoted to a director. He was infinitely pleased that his hard work had paid off, and told his wife so as they ate dinner as bits of food got caught in his thick moustache. Mrs Dursley was almost the opposite of her husband in appearance. She was tall and thin, with a long neck which she used to look over her neighbour's fences to spy on them. Their son, Dudley, seemed to have gotten the best and the worst attributes from his parents. His innocent blonde hair and dimples made him seem like an angelic boy, but his temperament was the opposite. Because although his parents seemed to believe that there was no finer boy anywhere, the rest of the street disagreed. They found him to be spoilt and grumpy most of the time, and most of the neighbours had a powerful dislike for the boy, even if he was just a year old.

But regardless, the Dursley's had everything they could ever want, but there was a secret that they tried desperately to keep hidden from anyone not already in the know. The Potters. They couldn't bare it if anyone had found out about Mrs Dursley's younger sister. For a good portion of her life, Mrs Dursley had tried to pretend she didn't have a sister and although it had gotten easier since they hadn't seen each other for a number of years. And for good reason. To say they were opposites of each other would be an understatement. The Dursley's often worried for the day that they would show up in their little neighbourhood causing, in their opinion, havoc and mayhem. They knew that the Potter's had two small children. Twins, a boy and a girl at about Dudley's age. This was just another reason to will them to stay away. They didn't want their son around children like them.

Strange going's on had been happening all day, on the dreary Tuesday when our story starts. Nothing strange or unusual to warn the Dursley's into learning what had happened, or what was yet to happen. Mr Dursley had driven to work as normal, not looking at the owls flying all over, or even the hundreds of men and women that littered the streets dressed in cloaks and all other kinds of strange attire. He didn't even notice the small tabby cat on the end of their road that seemed to be reading the street sign. It wasn't until his lunch break when he took a small walk to the bakery across the street from his office that he heard it. '

The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard –'

' – yes, their children, Harry and Bella –'

Fear had flooded Mr Dudley's body then as he stopped in his tracks, the words sinking in. He didn't bother including himself in the conversation and instead he had just returned to his office as quickly as his short legs would carry him. He had reached for the phone when his hand froze. Potter wasn't that uncommon a name. He was sure that there were lots of Potter's that had a son called Harry. And as for their daughter, he was sure that her name wasn't Bella. Come to think of it, he wasn't entirely sure his nephew was called Harry. Mr Dursley laughed to himself a moment, thinking how worried he had been over nothing. There was no way they were talking about his extended family, but all the same he found it was a lot harder to concentrate on work that afternoon.

He decided on his drive home, that he wouldn't bother his wife with the information. No need to talk about anything abnormal, as it would just upset her. So that night he drifted into an easy sleep.

Little did he know, the tabby cat that was sat outside their street earlier in the day was now sat staring at the street corner and nothing else. Her wide amber eye gazing at it with a sense of purpose, and as if she knew what would happen an old man appeared on the corner. He was old, with a long silver beard and hair to match. He was tall and mostly concealed by a deep purple cloak, except for a pair of bright blue eyes that shone in amusement as he looked at the cat. 'I should have known' he murmured to himself with a slight chuckle. He adjusted his glasses, a pair of half-moon spectacles which sat on his long crooked nose.

He reached into his robe and searched the pockets, his eyes looking at the bright orange streetlamps that littered the streets before him. He pulled out a small silver lighter and quickly clicked it. The nearest streetlight flickered for a second before flying towards him.

Private Drive hadn't seen a man this strange for many years, and it certainly hadn't seen any such behaviour. The man's name was Albus Dumbledore, and he didn't seem to notice nor care that he probably wasn't welcome on a street such as this. Or was any of his kind of people for that matter. But Albus had a purpose for being on the empty street in the dead of night.

He clicked the device again and another streetlamp went dark with a small pop. He repeated this a further twelve times, until just the light from the moon lit the street in its dim but shimmering light. Dumbledore slipped it back into his pocket and turned back to the cat.

'Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall' he said with a small crooked smile, his eyes twinkling.

The cat blinked at him, and then began to transform. Its smoky grey coloured fur began to turn into a shining emerald green cloak, while its small face began to elongate. The tail began to shrink, along with the left ear, while the right ear started to turn into a rather long black pointed hat like you would find on a witch.

Dumbledore didn't seem surprised by the transformation at all. In fact it seemed as if he had been expecting it, and when the small serious looking woman turned to him his smile just grew. She had her black hair pulled back in a tight bun, but small streaks of grey could be seen, and she wore large round glasses. Her emerald cloak brought out the green flecks in her brown eyes that despite her facial expressions held warmth as she looked at Dumbledore. As if she was inwardly greeting a close friend or family member.

'How did you know it was me?' she asked, stiffly, gently twisting to loosen her back muscles and causing her cloak to swish around her feet.

'My dear, I have never seen a cat sit so stiffly' he replied, trying to smother the smile before it reached his lips but failing almost instantly.

'You'd be stiff too if you had been sitting on that wall all day' she replied grumpily, trying to relax her muscled still. She had begun rotating her shoulders backwards and twisting her neck from side to side to try and ease the strain.

'All day?' Professor Dumbledore said with a small tone of surprise. 'When you could have been out celebrating? I think I must have seen more than ten parties on my way here alone.'

Professor McGonagall just rolled her eyes slightly. 'Oh yes, I know exactly how they are celebrating. Even the Muggles have noticed. Flocks of owls all over the place….. shooting stars in Kent – although I bet that was the work of Dedalus Diggle. It was on their news Dumbledore!' As she spoke, she got more and more irritated, and slightly louder. Dumbledore just placed one hand on the small of her back and guided her down the street until they stood in front of number four.

'You can't blame them Minerva, we have had precious little to celebrate over the last eleven years.' Dumbledore sighed.

'I know that.' McGonagall said, all but snapping at him. 'But that's still no reason for people to expose everything that we've kept secret for so long. People are out on the streets swapping rumours, during the day when there are Muggles around. They aren't even in Muggle clothes! Strutting around in robes of all colours. They must think that there is a new kind of cult happening….' McGonagall paused to take a breath and Dumbledore let out a small laugh at her rant. She threw a sharp, sideward glare at him, before changing her expression back to the same one she wore before.

As usual Professor McGonagall tended not to hold much promise to rumours and gossip thrown around by the people of her community, unless of course if it was confirmed by the most brilliant man she knew. Dumbledore.

'A fine thing it would be, that on the same day that You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared that we reveal ourselves to the Muggles.' She paused, still looking at the man beside her, whose focus was intent on the house in front of him. 'I suppose he is gone, Dumbledore?' she asked tentatively, watching his expression for anything to give her an answer.

'It certainly seems so' he muttered distracted, before snapping out of it as an owl flew overheard. 'We have much to be thankful for. Would you like a sherbet lemon?' He turned to face her as he asked, grateful for his thought to change that subject.

'A what?' she asked, her nose scrunching up.

'Sherbet lemon' he stated as if obvious to everyone. 'It's a kind of Muggle sweet that I'm quite partial to.'

'Oh' she replied, turning to gaze at the house. 'No, thank you.' Her tone was cold, as if she felt that this was hardly the time to be talking of any kind of Muggle sweet, no matter how delicious.

'As I was saying,' she continued, attempting to leave her annoyance at the change of subject behind her. 'even if You-Know-You has gone-'

'Professor' Dumbledore said, cutting her off. 'surely an accomplished witch like yourself can call him by his proper name. All this You-Know-Who nonsense is most irritating. I've been trying to get people to call him by his name for over eleven years. Voldemort.'

Professor McGonagall just flinched at the name. Even though he was suspected to be dead, she still felt the fear coursing through her at the mere mention of his name.

'I know you haven't.' She sounded half-exasperated and half-admiring as she spoke, her gaze returning to him in time to watch him attempting to unstick two sherbet lemon's that he had extracted from a paper bag in his cloak. 'But you're different from the rest of us. Everyone knows that you are the one person that You-Know – oh all right Voldemort was ever afraid of.'

Dumbledore smiled sheepishly. 'You flatter me my dear Professor, but Voldemort had powers that I will never have.'

McGonagall nodded. 'Yes, because you are too noble to use them.'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'It's lucky that I turned out the lights. I don't think I've blushed this much since Madam Pomfrey complimented my new earmuffs last Christmas.'

Professor McGonagall just rolled her eyes again. 'The rumours are what's worse. Have you heard what they are saying?' she asked rhetorically. Dumbledore went to answer anyway, but McGonagall cut him off by continuing. 'They are saying that last night, he turned up in Godric's Hollow at James and Lily Potter's doorstep. That he killed them both before moving on to kill their two infant children, Harry and Bella, but he couldn't.'

Dumbledore bowed his head in mourning over the loss of what he considered to be two of his closest friends.

'Oh Albus' Professor McGonagall sighed, putting her hand on his back as a tear trickled down her cheek. It had been hard not to love the Potter's. It was easy to see how very much in love they had been, and after they had Bella and Harry it only seemed to strengthen their relationship and love for their family and friends.

Dumbledore reached out and put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. 'I know… I know…' his voice heavy with emotion.

'What of their children? Is it true that he could not kill them? Two tiny babies, not even a year old. They are saying that Voldemort's power's somehow broke – and that's why he's gone.' Professor McGonagall's voice was trembling as she spoke, her eyes holding back her tears.

Dumbledore just nodded glumly, causing her to gasp in horror.

'It's – it's true?' she said, her voice shaking more violently. 'After everything he's done he couldn't kill …' she trailed off not wanting to repeat it again.

They both gazed forward at the house for a short time, neither wanting to ask how two small children with no power or even control over their situations could defeat him when he had slaughtered so many others. But they both knew it needed to be asked, so Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and voice it.

'How on earth did they survive?'

'We can only guess, Minerva' Dumbledore muttered in reply.

Professor McGonagall began to fuss, looking for a handkerchief in her many pockets and sighed when she was unable to find one. Dumbledore handed her one silently and she thanked him in a heavy voice as she dabbed her tears away.

Dumbledore pulled out a small golden pocket watch then, examining it to try and distract him from the emotional subject. The watch itself was rather strange. Instead of the standard three hands for hours, minutes and seconds, it held twelve but no numbers at all. Instead there were little planets hovering around the edge. It was apparent that it made sense to Dumbledore though, because he simply returned it back to his pocket and informed no one in particular that Hagrid was late.

'I suppose he told you where I would be by the way?' he asked Professor McGonagall, suddenly a tiny bit curious as to why she had been waiting here of all places when there wasn't someone like them for miles in all directions.

Professor McGonagall nodded. 'And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here of all places?' she asked, her normal strict tone returning after her little emotional session.

'I've come here to bring the two young Potter children to their aunt and uncle. They are the only family they have left now, besides each other.'

Professor McGonagall was momentarily stunned.

'You don't mean – you can't possibly intend to leave them with the people who live here?' She paused as if she was expecting a punch line for the bad joke, but when one didn't come she continued. 'Dumbledore you can't! These Muggles are the worst kind's I have ever seen, you can't possibly leave them here! You couldn't find two people less like us. And I'm not even mentioning their horrid son. He kicked up a fuss today screaming for sweets. I could hear it from the other end of the street! I think he actually kicked his mother on multiple occasions –'

'It's the best place for them' Dumbledore said sternly, cutting off her little rant before it gained more momentum. 'Their aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything when they are older, until them I have written them a letter.'

'A letter?!' Professor McGonagall yelled, loudly. It would have attracted a lot of attention if it had not been the middle of the night, but even so Dumbledore would have to calm her down.

'Really Dumbledore, I don't think all of this can be explained in one simple letter. These people will never understand either of them! They are already famous, and it's been less than 24 hours! Dumbledore there will be books written, songs sung… Dumbledore there won't be a child in our world who doesn't know their names –'

'Yes, and they are better off growing up away from all of that.' Dumbledore said, his tone of voice telling her not to question him on this decision.

McGonagall could see his point, but decided not to press the issue any further. She trusted his judgement more than anyone else's that she knew so if he was sure that this was best then she was inclined to agree.

'How are they getting here?' she asked, genuinely curious as to why he did not just bring them himself.

'Hagrid is bringing them.'

'Do you think that's wise?' she asked, trying not to question his judgement but unable to stop herself. 'Trusting Hagrid with something as important as this?'

'I would trust Hagrid with my life.'

McGonagall opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by the purr of an engine. Normally this would not have stayed her tongue, but the sound was not coming from the end of the road. Nor were there any cars on the street around them. The noise was coming from above their heads.

Then, suddenly, the engine cut and a huge motorcycle fell out of the sky onto the road in front of them. The bike was a deep blue in colour, but at times it almost seemed black as to blend in with the night's sky. And if the bike was huge, then the man sitting astride it was monstrous. He was almost twice as tall as any normal man, and at least three times as wide. He looked simply too big to be human. He had a large bushy black beard, which matched his hair in colour and style. And although his beard covered most of his face, two bright beady eyes could still be seen beneath the mop of hair. In his arms, he carried two large bundled blankets that seemed to both fit in one of his hands.

'Hagrid' Dumbledore greeted, smiling at the giant man. 'At last. Where did you get the motorbike?'

'Borrowed it.' Hagrid said his voice rough and husky. 'Young Sirius Black leant it to me.'

'No problems I trust Hagrid?' Dumbledore asked, taking one of the two bundles from him.

'No sir – the house was almost destroyed though, but we got them out alright. Little Harry fell asleep just as we were flying over Bristol, and Bella followed not too soon after.' Dumbledore looked down at the bundle in his arms, and noticed the lightning scar that now sat on Bella's forehead. He handed her off to Professor McGonagall before taking Harry off of Hagrid so he could remove himself from the bike.

Professor McGonagall gasped when she looked down at Bella and what lay beneath the light brown tuft of hair on her forehead. 'Is that where…' McGonagall trailed off knowing that they would understand.

'Yes' Dumbledore said. 'They will have those scars forever.

'Can't you do something about them Dumbledore?' she said, thinking of how it would alienate them even further.

'Even if I could, I wouldn't.' Dumbledore said, gazing down at Harry. 'I've found that scars can be very useful. I myself have one above my left knee that is an exact replica of the London Underground.' Dumbledore turned towards the Dursley's house and started to walk towards it. McGonagall trailed behind with Bella, and Hagrid followed not too far behind that.

'Could I say goodbye sir?' Hagrid asked, his voice shaking. Dumbledore nodded and Hagrid bent over to kiss Harry on the forehead. He let out a sound like a wounded dog, and by the time he made it to Bella, he was openly sobbing.

'Shhh' McGonagall hushed him sharply, despite the fact that she had been loud enough to wake the Muggles on more than one occasion.

'I can't' Hagrid sobbed, his voice shacking and stuttering. He used one of his dustbin lid sized hands to cover his mouth, muffling his sobs.

'It's very sad I know' Dumbledore said calmingly, before laying Harry down on the doorstep. He turned and took Bella off of Professor McGonagall and laid her down next to her brother.

McGonagall took hold of Hagrid's arm them and all but dragged him back onto the main road. They could still see Dumbledore as he fished the letter out of his pocket and lay it down next to the two small infants. He returned to the others, and for a full minute the three of them watched the two children sound asleep on the front porch.

'Well, that's it done then.' Dumbledore said, knowing that they all needed to leave before the sun rose. 'We have no business being here any longer.'

Hagrid nodded in agreement. 'I'd best be returning this bike. G'night Professor Dumbledore sir, Professor McGonagall.' Hagrid blew his nose loudly into a tissue and shoved it up one of his enormous sleeves before climbing back onto the bike. As he took off into the night, Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall.

'I expect I'll be seeing you soon, Professor McGonagall.' He smiled at her but unlike earlier in the evening, it didn't reach his eyes.

Dumbledore walked back down the street, and brought out the silver lighter once more. He clicked it once, and all the lights returned to each streetlamp. The whole street became illuminated in an orange glow. On the corner he had arrived on, he stopped and looked back down the street to see a tabby cat slinking away around a corner on the other end of the street. He could still see the blankets on the porch of number four, and then with a flick of his wrist he was gone.

Harry turned towards his sister in his sleep, not knowing that the both of them would be woken up the next morning by their aunt's screams as she put out the milk bottles. Neither knew that at that very moment people were praying and drinking to their names, celebrating and calling them – the ones who lived!


	2. Chapter 2

**In response to those who reviewed the last chapter, I did warn you that it would be very similar. Due to the fact that neither of the twins actually have any lines or input on their surroundings, I kept it the same as the book…. Hope you don't mind…. It should start getting more and more different from here onwards.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, as usual, own the character's and much of the plot… I am simply a vessel to rewrite what are arguably two of my favourite series and combine them.**

– Chapter Two –

When Glass Vanishes

It had been a little over ten years since Mr and Mrs Dursley had woken up to find their niece and nephew laying alone on their porch. It had been nearly long enough for the woman across the road to forget about the unusual behaviour that they had shown that morning, and certainly long enough for the rest of Private Drive to forget. But despite the time that had passed, the street hadn't changed at all. Of course there had been repairs to various streetlamps and potholes, but everything else seemed as if it had just stood frozen for the last ten years.

The Dursley's house had remained much the same as well, with the exception of the photographs. For the living room that once held several pictures of a very pink, and very round Dudley Dursley now held at least thirty pictures of a blonde boy, just as round but much less pink. Of course the boy in the picture's varied in age, from the picture of him riding a bike at age 6 to him with his Aunt Marge and her 5 dogs at age 9.

In fact other than his parent's, there were no pictures of anyone else at all. It would look like, to people not in the know, that no one else lived in the house. But that wasn't true.

Mrs Dursley banged on the hatch to the attic with a broom handle, waking Harry from his sleep. 'Get up!' she screeched in her overly high pitch voice. 'Now!' He heard the lock click open and briefly wondered if he could escape through the front door without her noticing. He let out a sigh and rolled over, wanting to go back to sleep but knowing if he did he would be in worse trouble.

He sat up and climbed over some boxes to Christmas decorations to his sister. 'Bella' he said in a sing-song voice, tapping her arm lightly. He knew it wouldn't wake her fully, since she had always been a heavy sleeper. In fact it had gotten her into trouble with their aunt and uncle on more than one occasion. 'Bella' Harry said again, louder this time but careful not to alert anyone else. He shook her shoulders when she didn't wake, causing one of her eyes to crack open.

'I had the strangest dream' she muttered sleepily. 'It was about flying motorbikes.' Harry smiled at his only sibling and shook his head.

'Aunt Petunia called us' he said, grumbling.

'Are you up yet?' Mrs Dursley screeched again from the bottom of the stairs, her voice rising to a new octave. Bella jumped slightly when she heard her voice, and the two hurried to get dressed. Over the years they had perfected the art of doing everything with speed and silence.

'Nearly' Harry called back, knowing that if one of them didn't answer she would keep on screaming at them until they did.

'Well get a move on!' she said, her voice becoming much more like her normal volume. 'I want Bella to look after the bacon while you set the table-'

Bella rolled her eyes at Harry, feeling a sense of thrill rush through her at her form of protest. Harry smiled, trying to keep his laughter in. His sister always had been a little more rebellious than himself, a quality that he admired in her. Nothing seemed to ever break her spirits.

'-and don't you dare let it burn!' Mrs Dursley continued, her voice resuming the horrid screeching. Harry held up his hand to his sister in a claw like fashion and dragged it through the air. Bella let out a quiet giggle, nodding in agreement that their aunt's voice did sound like nails on a chalkboard. The both of them had suffered through that particular noise enough times while they were at school.

'What was that?' Mrs Dursley shouted, banging on the floor of their room from underneath. Bella's eyes widened. Aunt Petunia had unusually good hearing, in fact Bella often compared her senses to those of one of the cat's owned by Mrs Figg down the street.

Harry opened the hatch and pocked his head out. 'Nothing Aunt Petunia.' He eased the ladder down through the hatch as Bella pulled on a pair of Dudley's old socks. She pulled a spider off of one and pulled it on. They were both used to the spiders, because the attic where they slept was full of them. They hadn't ever laughed harder than when one of their classmates started screaming over a spider.

'I want everything to be perfect' she said descended the stairs. '- for my Duddy's special day.'

Harry paused on the bottom step and held in a groan. Of course it was his cousin's birthday – how had he forgotten? Bella tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a confused look as she stood on the ladder behind him. 'Dudley's birthday' he murmured to her, and she couldn't hold in the groan.

As they got downstairs, Mrs Dursley was rearranging a large pile of brightly coloured gifts in all different sizes. Bella immediately began to cook the bacon, slotting bread into the toaster as the oil began to heat in the frying pan. Harry grabbed the placemats off of the table and went about his job, his mind wondering what presents lay in the pile.

He already knew about the new computer, as well as the second television, that Uncle Vernon had made Harry carry into the house after a particularly long shopping trip. He also saw a bicycle standing at the back of the pile, which made his lips pull into a small smirk – because unless it involved punching someone, their cousin hated exercise. Harry was Dudley's favourite punching bag, but it was rare that Dudley would actually catch him. Because although Harry was small in stature, he was very fast. Well that and Bella would usually stand in the way, and despite being a bully, even Dudley had his limits. It apparently would be wrong to hit a girl.

Come to think of it, both Harry and Bella were small and skinny for their age. Perhaps it had something to do with them both living in the cold, damp, dark attic; or perhaps it was the second-hand clothes that had once belonged to Dudley who was four times bigger than one of them. They often found that they could both fit into one of his old t-shirts, a fact that they refused to joke about even in private when the Dursley's weren't around. They each had thin faces with brown hair that was darkening in colour as they got older, and blue-green eyes. They both wore the same round glasses with Sellotape holding them together because of the amount of times they had "tripped". In fact the only things that appeared unordinary about the twins were the matching scars on their foreheads in the shape of lightning bolts. They had had them for as long as they could remember, and the first question either of them could remember was when Bella asked their Aunt Petunia was how he had got it. 'In the car crash when your parents died,' she had said. 'And don't ask questions.'  
That was the first rule at the Dursley's – _Don't ask questions._

As Harry finished setting the table, Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen. 'Comb your hair!' he barked at Harry before setting himself at the head of the table and opening the newspaper. About once a week, Uncle Vernon would comment on Harry's haircut but no matter how often he had it cut it would simply grow back all over the place. Bella's was the same, but she had taken to tying it back in one of two plaits with a piece of string.

After setting the table, Harry walked into the kitchen area and started to help Bella with the breakfast by frying the eggs and buttering toast. Bella smiled gratefully, only for it to fade when Dudley entered the kitchen. Dudley looked a lot like his father; with a large pink face, not much neck, thick blonde hair and small blue eyes. Aunt Petunia called him a baby angel. Harry and Bella called him a pig in a wig.

Harry started dishing up their breakfast and heard rather than saw Dudley's face fall. He let out a soft grunt and immediately started questioning his parents. 'How many are there?' Dudley asked rudely, but he didn't wait for an answer. 'I can only see thirty-six, but that's two less than last year!' As he spoke his voice got louder, and his face pinker.

'Darling' Aunt Petunia said in a calming voice. 'You didn't count Auntie Marge's present. It's under the big one from Mummy and Daddy.'

'Thirty-seven then' Dudley said, his face turning red. Harry looked at Bella, and they both knew a Dudley tantrum was coming. They quickly placed the Dursley's breakfast in front of them, and escaped back to the kitchen.

Aunt Petunia obviously sensed danger also, because as soon as they placed the plates on the table she was telling Dudley that they would buy him an extra two presents.

Dudley sat, ignoring his breakfast for a moment clearly thinking hard. After a few minutes he said slowly, 'So I'll have… thirty… thirty….'

'Thirty-nine, sweetums,' his mother answered. Dudley grinned and started to shove bacon into his mouth at an alarming rate.

Uncle Vernon let out a chuckle. 'Little tyke just wants his money's worth like me' he said, and ruffled Dudley's hair. Dudley shook him off and proceeded to shove more food into his mouth.

After he had finished eating, Dudley immediately started grabbing presents off of the pile and ripping the paper off. After finding the bike, a remote-control aeroplane, a gold wristwatch, sixteen new computer games and much to his disgust a book, the phone rang. Aunt Petunia scurried off to answer it, and when she returned, he face was grave.

'Vernon,' she said to her husband. 'Mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take them.' She jerked her head in the direction of the kitchen, and Bella gasped quietly. Dudley's mouth fell open in horror and his face started going an odd shade of red again. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out to amusement parks, or the cinema while the twins stayed with Mrs Figg, the crazy cat lady from over the road. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs Figg made them look at pictures of all her cats.

'Now what?' Aunt Petunia said sharply, glaring holes into Bella as though it was her fault that Mrs Figg had fallen. The twins knew they should feel sorry for Mrs Figg, but they couldn't help but feel joy at the end result that would inevitably come.

'We could phone Marge,' Uncle Vernon suggested, but Mrs Dursley shot it down immediately.  
'Don't be silly, Vernon. She hates them.'

The Dursley's often spoke about the twin's like this.

'What about your friend, what's-her-name?'  
'Yvonne? On holiday in Majorca.' Aunt Petunia scowled, turning away from her husband to glare at Harry.

'You could leave us here,' Harry suggested as his aunt glared at him, his voice filled with hope that he and his sister might actually get some time to themselves for once. Aunt Petunia was not impressed by his suggestion.

'And come back to find the house in ruins? I don't think so.' Her voice was sharp and decisive.

'We won't blow up the house' he muttered under his breath, which went unheard by the Dursley's who had resumed ignoring the twin's presence.

'I suppose we could take them to the zoo with us…' she said. '…and leave them in the car…'

'They is not sitting in the new car on their own!' Uncle Vernon exclaimed, interrupting his wife.

Dudley began to cry, well he wasn't really crying as he hadn't cried since he was a toddler but it sounded close enough to make his parents give him anything he wanted.

'Dinky Duddydums, don't cry' Aunt Petunia said, rushing to her son's side as predicted. 'Mommy won't let them spoil your special day!' She flung her arms around him and placed kisses on his cheek over and over to try and "calm" him.

'I… don't… want… them… t-t-to come!' Dudley fake sobbed between words. 'They always sp-spoil everything!' He shot Bella and Harry a grin from over his mother's shoulder that neither of his parents could see and continued to fake sob.

Just then the doorbell rang, causing Dudley's crocodile tears to seize. Aunt Petunia scurried to the door and moments later Dudley's best friend and partner in crime walked him with his mother. Piers Polkiss was a small boy compared to Dudley with a rat like face and was usually the one to hold their victims arms while Dudley punched them or stole their lunch money.

Half an hour later and Bella and Harry couldn't believe their luck. They were sat in the back of the Dursley's seven-seat maroon coloured car on the way to the zoo for the first time in their lives. Their aunt and uncle had been unable to think of another option so they had been forced to bring them along. Much to Dudley's disappointment.

As Mrs Dursley had guided Dudley and Piers into the two of the back seats, Uncle Vernon had taken the Potter twins aside.

'Any funny business' he had said in quiet gruff voice. 'Any at all, and neither of you shall have meals for a week. Understand?' When both of them had nodded, indicating their agreement, he had ushered them into the car muttering under his breath about how ungrateful they were.

The truth was that strange things always happened around the Potter twins. Once, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force Harry into one of Dudley's horrid old jumpers. It was brown with orange bobbles on it, and the harder she tried to pull it over his head the smaller it got. She kept trying until the only thing it would fit would be a glove puppet. Aunt Petunia decided that it had shrunk in the wash and Harry was lucky that he wasn't punished. Bella hadn't always been so lucky. If it wasn't bad enough that Bella was clumsy, then the fact that things always seemed to move near her was defiantly a problem. Bella had lost count long ago, the amount of times that Uncle Vernon had punished her for dropping things she hadn't been holding, or knocking things over that she hadn't touched. There had been maybe twenty or thirty other incidents like those where things just seemed to happen, and they usually got in trouble.

But nothing was going to dampen their spirits today. Even though Dudley and Piers had spent the whole journey kicking their seats, they were both still ecstatic. Bella and Harry were going to the zoo. They even had to endure Uncle Vernon complaining to Aunt Petunia about pretty much everything. Uncle Vernon always liked to complain whether it was the people at work, Harry, the council, Bella, the bank, Harry and Bella. This morning though he seemed to be focused on motorbikes.

'… always rushing, streaming in and out of traffic like maniacs.' As a motorbike overtook them, Bella spoke up without thinking.

'I had a dream about a motorbike. It was flying,' she said.

Uncle Vernon reacted almost immediately, shouting at the top of his lungs so loud in fact that it even made Piers and Dudley jump. 'Motorbikes don't fly!' his face was changing colour by the second, making him appear to be a beetroot with a moustache.

After the initial shock, Piers and Dudley started snickering.

'It was just a dream,' Bella whispered, dropping her face down to stare at her feet. Harry almost spoke up then, telling his aunt and uncle that he had said the same dream to take some of the heat off of his sister. Perhaps he would tell Bella later when they were alone in their room, but not now.

When they arrived at the zoo it was crowded with families, and immediately after stepping out of the car Dudley had demanded an ice-cream. The Dursley's waddled over to the small van and bought two large chocolate cones for Piers and Dudley before walking to the gorilla exhibit.

Despite being practically dragged around by their aunt and uncle, Bella and Harry were having the best morning of their lives. Every now and again one of the boys would get bored of the animals and resort to their usual methods of entertainment, which usually involved their fists and a part of Harry's body.

After lunch, which they had eaten in the restaurant at the zoo, had been fairly quiet and Bella took the time to think about things. For as long as she could remember, she hadn't been this happy. Although she couldn't remember everything, the furthest back she could remember was Dudley's third birthday. Although if she concentrated very hard she could see a bright green flash and a burning pain on her forehead. She had spoken to Harry about it one night in their attic and he had nodded in agreement, remembering a scream. Neither of them could remember their parents though. Their aunt and uncle never spoke of them, and of course the twins were forbidden to ask questions. There weren't even any photographs of them in the house.

They went to the reptile house next. The cool, dark tunnel like room whose walls were covered in tanks of all sizes. Bella grabbed hold of Harry's arm and held her breath. She had never particularly liked the dark, because she was always worried about what kind of things might be lurking in it. Harry smiled encouragingly at her and walked with her along the wall of snakes slowly behind the Dursley's. Dudley and Piers stopped in front of the largest cobra and stared in. The pair had been excited since this morning about visiting the large beast like snake that could easily crush any man.

But unfortunately for Harry, their interest in the large reptile didn't last long as apparently it was asleep. They started banging on the glass to try and wake him up but it was quite clearly used to the offensive noise because it didn't even flinch.

'Make it move,' Dudley whined to his father, moving to press his nose against the glass. Uncle Vernon tapped his fat knuckles on the glass, but the snake just lay there. As the snake just continued to sleep under the fluorescent lights, Uncle Vernon hit the glass again only to be ignored.

Dudley rolled his eyes and shuffled away with Piers on his tail. 'This is boring' he said as he wandered down the aisle.

Harry and Bella just stood watching the snake. Bella moved in front of the snake and felt an immediate feeling of pity for the reptile. She knew exactly how it felt to have people knocking or hammering on a wall to wake you up, but at least she had Harry to keep her company.

The snake's beady eyes opened and very slowly turned its head to look dead in the eyes of the Potter twins. One of its eyes closed suddenly in a small wink, and Harry gasped. Bella looked back at Harry as he looked around to see if anyone was watching but they weren't.

The snake nodded it's head towards Dudley and Uncle Vernon before giving the two of them a look that clearly said 'I get that all the time.'

Harry mumbled in response, under his breath 'I know the feeling. It can be really annoying.' The snake just nodded vigorously. Bella gasped.

'Can you hear us?' she asked, her eyes wide beneath her round, black glasses. The snake nodded again and the both smiled in wonderment at the snake that could understand English.

'Where do you come from, anyway?' Harry asked. The snake tilted its head left towards a small sign which read:

_Boa Constrictor, Brazil_

'Was it nice in Brazil?' Bella asked, only to have the snake shake his head immediately and point his tail towards the sign again.

_Born in captivity_

'Oh' she said quietly. But it was drowned out as Dudley finally realised what the snake was doing.

'Mum! Dad! Come quick you won't believe what this snake is doing!' he shouted at the top of his lungs, before barrelling over and pushing both Harry and Bella out of the way.

They both fell onto the hard concrete floor and Harry turned to glare at Dudley. But that wasn't all that happened. The glass that Dudley and Piers had pressed their noses against, vanished into thin air.

Piers leapt back in horror but Dudley, being fairly slow of mind, fell forward into the tank. Dudley let out a small shriek, catching the attention of both his parents. Bella gasped and Harry looked back at her in shock. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia came running over, all the while glaring at the Potter twins. The great snake slithered out of its glass prison and looked straight at Bella and Harry.

'Thanksssss' it hissed, and their eyes widened. It was one thing for the great snake to be able to understand them, but it was another for it to talk to them.

'Anytime' Bella whispered quiet enough so their aunt and uncle wouldn't hear them.

The zoo director turned up soon after, with a permanent look of shock on his face.

'But the glass,' he kept saying, 'where did the glass go?'

He kept apologising over and over, even though it was obviously no fault of his.

Harry could see Uncle Vernon trying to hide his look of anger, and both he and his sister knew that they would be in major trouble once they were out of the public eye. And they were.

They had driven home afterwards, in absolute silence, well apart from Dudley and Piers discussing how the snake had apparently tried to strangle them and bite one of their legs off. It was then that Piers said something that made both of the twins regret even tagging along.

'Harry and Bella were talking to it, weren't you?'

Uncle Vernon turned purple. Harry could see his reflection in the mirror, but refused to answer. To Uncle Vernon's credit, he held in his anger all the way back to Private Drive, and even until Piers had gone home with his mother.

It was then that he snapped. He could barely speak as he grunted out the odd words. 'Go – Attic – No Meals' and after that he didn't need to say anymore, they got the message.

They lay in their attic hours later in the dark, wishing they had a watch. In the past they had usually snuck down after the Dursley's had gone to sleep for food, but they didn't want to risk it. They were already in enough trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok so I hope you enjoyed the last chapter! Here's the next one! I must apologise for the time it's taking me to write these…. I lost certain pages from the first few chapters of the first Harry Potter book, probably due to over-reading. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of JK Rowling's or Stephanie Meyer's wonderful books.**

– CHAPTER THREE –

Hiding the Letter's

After the events at the zoo, Bella and Harry were locked in the attic until the start of the summer holidays were upon them. They were given their meals twice a day at 7am and pm, but other than that they barely saw any of the Dursley's for two whole weeks.

Although they would never admit it out loud, Harry and Bella actually preferred each other's company; and the only part that they even considered a punishment was the fact that they weren't allowed outside. Bella, especially, loved the outdoors and spent most of her childhood off in a tree somewhere or laying in the grass watching the birds fly overhead. She would often pretend that she was soaring over the trees, free to go anywhere but back to the Dursley's. In fact she frequently pretended she was off exploring the rainforests in Brazil or wandering the streets of Italy. But no matter how hard she wished it, eventually she would be brought back to the real world.

When they were finally allowed out, back among the rest of the household, Bella and Harry were not all that surprised to find that Dudley had already broken the majority of his birthday presents. These included but were not limited to his cine-camera, remote control plane, the small robot dog and he had even knocked over poor Mrs Figg with his racing bike. But while the twins were excited that school was over for another year, Harry felt a sense of dread overtake him whenever he heard the doorbell ring.

You see for a number of years Dudley had been in charge of his small group of friends, in fact you could probably call them his gang. Piers, Craig, Malcolm, Eric and Gordon were all members, and were frequently seen at the Dursley's house during any kind of holiday. They were each as stupid as the last, but Dudley was by far the biggest and stupidest. And since it was a holiday, they liked to join in their favourite sport: Potter-hunting.

Although Bella wasn't always a target, like Harry was, they would often push her down into the mud or laugh and tease her for her unruly hair or glasses. Harry on the other hand was subject to a much more physical punishment. It was because of this that they often left straight after breakfast and didn't return until just after 6pm.

Although, as it got closer to the end of the holidays they both felt a small amount of hope that when September came around the Dursley's plans would not change. You see when school started back, Dudley would not be returning with them to their local school, and would be instead joining Uncle Vernon's old school Smeltings. The uniforms were, in Harry's opinion, completely ridiculous with maroon tailcoats and bright orange knickerbockers. They wore flat straw hats called boaters, and carried a knobbly looking stick that they used to hit each other when the teachers weren't looking.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were so proud when Dudley paraded it around the living room on the day that they had bought it. Aunt Petunia had even burst into tears at one point.

When they came down from their room the next morning, a horrible smell had filled not only the kitchen but most of the house. It was coming from a large metal tub in the sink, and when Harry went to have a look he regretted it almost instantly.

'What is it?' Bella asked while beginning to set the table.

'Your new school uniform.' Aunt Petunia said, while stirring it.

Harry looked down at the bowl again and said 'Wow I didn't realise it would have to be so wet.'

Aunt Petunia snapped at him then, slapping him across the back of his head with a dry dishcloth. 'Don't be stupid,' she had said in a harsh tone. 'I'm just dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you both. It'll look just like everyone else's when you're done.' Both Harry and Bella doubted that it would, but did not argue. It would only make things worse for them in the long run.

They both sat down at the table with a bowl of cereal and daydreamed about their first day at their new school. Stonewall High – the local comprehensive that they would be attending from September, would mean that they would be essentially Dudley-free with only some of the members of his gang present. They would both have a new start in which to make friends and maybe actually have fun. Of course, the friends that they did get would probably be limited due to the old elephant skin that they would be wearing.

Uncle Vernon came down with Dudley following close behind, each with the same look of disgust as Harry and Bella had been wearing a few minutes earlier. Uncle Vernon immediately sat down and started to read his newspaper, ignoring Dudley smacking his smelting stick all over the place.

Other than the occasional noise made my Uncle Vernon's paper, or the sound of Dudley stuffing food into his face, there was hardly any noise made at the table. Well that was the case until the familiar click of the letter box echoed through the ground floor.

'Get the post Dudley,' said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

'Make Harry get it,' Dudley whined.

'Get the post, Harry,' Uncle Vernon said in a flat voice.

'Make Dudley get it,' Harry replied.

'Hit him with your Smelting stick, Dudley' Uncle Vernon told his son, but Harry was already out of his chair before Uncle Vernon had even finished his sentence. Bella got up from her seat, and began to clear the dishes away as Harry made it to the front door. Sitting on the mat were 3 letters and a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge. One of the letters was a bill addressed to their Uncle Vernon, but the other two were very odd indeed.

They were both a faded yellow colour and had emerald green writing on the front. The first one was addressed to Harry, which was very odd as Harry never received mail. Nor did he have anyone to write to him. The second was addressed to his sister, which was equally as odd.

_Mr H. Potter_

_The Attic_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

Harry stared at it for a moment, and flipped over to look at the other one.

_Miss B. Potter_

_The Attic_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

He blinked, almost unsure if they were really there and turned the letters over in his hand. As he examined them closely he noticed that there were no stamps on the front, which just added to the list of how odd it really was. Not only that, but they were unusually heavy for letters. Almost as if there were perhaps a dozen pages in each of them. On the back was a large wax seal in bright red bearing a unusual coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake all surrounding a large letter 'H'.

'What's taking so long boy?' Uncle Vernon yelled to Harry from the kitchen table.

Harry wandered back into the kitchen, slipping Bella's letter onto the side. Her brown creased and Harry shrugged. He handed the other mail to his Uncle Vernon, and began to open his letter. Of course it didn't go unnoticed by Dudley who immediately started yelling that Harry had got a letter.

Uncle Vernon's attention immediately turned to what his son was talking about and he snapped it out of his hands quickly. 'Hey that's mine!' Harry exclaimed and Bella's eyes widened. She quickly pushed her letter under the bread bin as Uncle Vernon sneered at Harry.

'Who'd be writing to you?' Uncle Vernon said, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face turned white almost as quickly as Harry could blink.

'P-P-Petunia' he gasped, yelling for his wife to come into the kitchen. Bella tried to mask her scared impression with one of confusion before her Aunt entered the room. Dudley tried to grab the letter from his father's hand, but he held it out of his

reach. Aunt Petunia curiously read the first line and gasped. Loudly.

They stared at each other, and it almost seemed as if the three children were no longer in the room. 'I want to read that letter!' Dudley demanded, smacking his stick all over the room. He wasn't used to being ignored by his parents. Aunt Petunia turned to Bella and glared 'Did you get one?' she asked in an overly loud, overly high pitch voice. Bella just shook her head with a frown on her face.

'I want to read my letter' Harry said, trying to distract attention away from his sister. She had never been good at lying, so it was best that she wasn't stared at for too long.

'Get out,' Uncle Vernon croaked. 'All of you, out.' Bella started to stack the dishes in the sink, and under the cover of the noise and Dudley's tantrum about having to leave the room, she slipped her letter into her jeans. She gasped when Uncle Vernon grabbed Dudley and Harry by the scruff's of their necks and dragged them out. Bella followed them quickly, not wanting to be dragged. Dudley and Harry began to fight over who would listen at the keyhole, and of course Dudley won. Harry lay down on the floor to listen at the crack in the floor.

'Vernon,' Aunt Petunia said in a quivering voice. 'Look at the address –'she let out a small sob of fear before continuing '-how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're you know…' she trailed off hoping that her husband would understand that she was asking if they were watching the house. He didn't. It was obvious where Dudley got his brains from.

'They are what Petunia?' he asked loudly, before his wife shushed him.

'Watching the house.' She all but blurted the sentence out, her nervous energy getting the better of her.

Uncle Vernon thought about this for a moment before replying quieter this time. 'Watching – spying – maybe even following us,' he muttered, paranoia leaking throughout his body.

Aunt Petunia gasped out loud. Bella could almost picture her with one hand clasped over her mouth and the other gripping at the table cloth or Uncle Vernon's shirt. Bella closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her waist, holding the letter close to her under her shirt. She desperately wanted to know what it was that had Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia so scared about, and what it had to do with the letters.

'But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want them to –'

Uncle Vernon interrupted her then, and Harry could see the shadow of his legs pacing back and forth in the kitchen. 'No,' he said sharply. 'No, we'll ignore it. Pretend that we never received that damn letter.'

'But –' she said weakly, thinking that this was the wrong course of action. Of course she would never tell her husband that.

'I'm not having one of those in the house, Petunia!' Uncle Vernon whispered loudly, obviously suspecting that the three of them were trying to listen in to the conversation. 'Didn't we swear that when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?'

That was the last thing that Uncle Vernon said to do with the letter that day. In fact, that was the last thing Uncle Vernon said at all that day until he came to visit Harry and Bella in the attic that evening. They had not had a chance to open Bella's letter yet as she had been kept busy by Aunt Petunia most of the day.

'Where's my letter?' Harry said the moment Uncle Vernon had finished climbing up the stairs into the dusty room. 'Who's writing to me?'

'No one' Uncle Vernon said with a weird and unusual smile on his face. 'It was addressed to you by mistake.' Both the twin's found this highly unlikely, but chose not to say anything about it. It would just cause an argument. 'I've burned it.'

Feelings of anger started to rage through him, and everything seemed to vanish around him. His thoughts were focused on wondering how he dare to burn a letter that clearly wasn't his. It wasn't until Bella placed a hand on his shoulder that he even remembered where he was.

Harry sighed, and Uncle Vernon revealed the real reason why he had come to the attic at all.

'Er- we – that is your Aunt and I – have decided to move you both out of the attic.' Bella's eyes just widened, while Harry just stared at their Uncle.

'We have agreed that you should both move into Dudley's second bedroom,' They both just stood their completely shocked until Harry said 'Why?'

'Don't ask questions!' he snapped, and Bella and Harry almost jumped out of their skin at the noise. 'Take this stuff downstairs now!' and then he left, mumbling something under his breath that neither of the twins could quite hear.

Number four was a rather spacious house with six small rooms on the top floor: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one guest room, one where Dudley slept, Dudley's second bedroom where he kept all his toys, a small bathroom, and a small room that they tended to just dump all the things they couldn't find a place for. Bella often used the room to hide things, and that day had not been an exception as she had hidden her letter in a small grey tin on the back shelf. It had taken a while to stuff it in around the small chocolate bar that she had put in their two months earlier, but it was worth it. For all intensive purposes, her letter was safe and away from unwanted eyes.

It only took Bella and Harry one trip each to bring their things from the attic down to their new bedroom and as Harry sat on one of the beds, he wondered what could possibly have gotten into his aunt and uncle. This was a level of kindness that they were not used to.

The next morning, when the twins went down for breakfast everything was absolutely silent. It was like the Dursley's weren't in at all. Aunt Petunia smiled at them as they walked through the door, and although it was obviously fake the twins would take what they could get. Even Uncle Vernon appeared to still be trying to be nice to them, as when the mail arrived he made Dudley go and fetch it.

Dudley's face was a shade of white-ish grey, a similar colour to the porridge that both Harry and Bella were used to eating for breakfast. He banged his Smelting's stick all along the wall, and Bella listened closely to see if there would be another letter.

She had yet to read hers as she had simply not had the time to sneak back into the junk room to collect it.

'There's another one!' Dudley cried from the hall. '_Mr H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive –'_

Mr Dursley let out an unusually strangled cry and leapt from his seat faster than Harry thought the man could move. He snatched the letter from his son and turned it over in his hand.

'Go to your bedrooms!' he wheezed, his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. His face was flushed red, but he still managed to glare at Harry as he breathed deeply.

As Harry walked up the stairs to his new bedroom with his sister and cousin in tow, he thought about how whoever was sending him the letters had known that he had changed bedroom's and also that while Bella had received her letter he had not gotten his.

Dudley sat down in the hallway outside his bedroom with one of the birthday presents he hadn't broken yet from all those weeks ago. Bella frowned as she turned into her room. There would be no chance of getting the letter with Dudley in the hallway, and she desperately wanted to know what was written there. And who was writing. And why they were writing. She lay down on the bed, and watched as Harry paced back and forth trying to come up with a plan to get his letter.

The morning after, Harry awoke at six o'clock, ready to wait on the corner of Privet Drive for the postman. The alarm blared loudly, almost waking his sister. But thankfully it didn't. He turned it off quickly and got dressed, almost bouncing with excitement. He tiptoed down the stairs as quietly as he could without putting any lights on and stepped onto something squishy.

'AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!' the squishy thing said. Harry froze.

The lights clicked on upstairs and to Harry's absolute horror he saw under his foot the face of Uncle Vernon. He had had a similar idea as Harry's about waiting for the post, only Uncle Vernon's had involved sleeping under the letterbox.

Uncle Vernon shouted at Harry for about half an hour after that. After he had finished yelling at Harry, he told him to go make him a cup of tea. But by the time Harry had returned, Uncle Vernon had three of the faded yellow, green inked letters sitting in his lap. He tore the letters up quickly and pocketed them.

Harry probably would have tried to sneak them out of his Uncle's pyjama pockets later after he went to work, but Uncle Vernon never did. He stayed at home that day and nailed the letter box shut.

'See' he explained. 'if they can't deliver them they'll just give up.' Aunt Petunia frowned at his logic. She knew this wasn't the case but Uncle Vernon was completely stressed about the whole ordeal, so she didn't say anything and hoped that they would indeed stop for the sake of her husband's mental health.

He would hover around Harry as often as he could, whether they were outside on the front lawn or in their bedroom.

Bella inwardly sighed in frustration. At every turn she was being blocked from reading her letter, and it just got worse as time went on. Both Harry and Bella never had time to themselves in the house, or even out of it, and by the time Friday rolled around it had just gotten worse. No fewer than twelve letters arrive for Harry. Each day they had had found new ways to get the letters into the house and each day Uncle Vernon had blocked them off.

They had tried stuffing them under the door or sliding them in through unlocked windows, but Friday was a particularly bad day. Uncle Vernon had been boarding up the front door, blocking anything and anyone from getting in or out while humming along to 'Tiptoe through the Tulips'. But while this was going on, Aunt Petunia decided that she and Bella would clean out the junk room.

Bella began to panic as they went into the room, and she desperately tried to direct her Aunt away from her letter until she had an opportunity to smuggle it out. But with Dudley sat in the hallway playing with a build-your-own-model-aeroplane set, it would be difficult to get the tin out.

She would need to find something to distract him with, but couldn't think of a way to do it. Thankfully though, Aunt Petunia got distracted by some of Dudley's old baby clothes, especially a pair of tiny white shoes. She started balling like a baby, and Bella took the opportunity to shove the tin under her shirt. She practically ran back to the room she shared with Harry, which was just across the hall, and shoved the tin among Dudley's many broken toys. Harry looked up at her confused and she shook her head. She would have to tell him later, as there were far too many ears around. She dashed back across the hall and breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that Aunt Petunia was still crying over the baby shoes.

That night when Bella returned to their room, not only was Harry asleep but she herself was exhausted.

'Tomorrow' she promised to herself, under her breath so she didn't wake Harry. But she never got the chance.

Saturday brought around twenty-four letters stuffed inside two dozen eggs, and Uncle Vernon lost it. He locked Bella and Harry in the attic for the remainder of the day, probably having forgotten that that wasn't even their room anymore.

'Who on earth wants to talk to _you_ this badly?' Dudley had said as Uncle Vernon dragged them up the stairs.

Sunday was, however, the worst. It had started out as a perfectly pleasant morning, with even Uncle Vernon smiling.

'No post on Sundays' he muttered over and over as the twins entered the kitchen. Bella and Harry just helped themselves to toast, watching as Uncle Vernon spread butter onto his newspaper.

'No letters today –' he said in a smug tone, only to be hit in the moustache by something flying across the room. Harry and Bella's eyes widened before looking at each other. Neither of them had thrown anything at their uncle so who had?

Something else came whizzing through the kitchen, and Harry recognised it immediately. It was one of his letters. He reached to grab it, but Uncle Vernon caught his wrist. It was then that perhaps thirty or forty letters came flying down around them from the direction of the fireplace.

Bella looked over and tried to hide a laugh. Harry leapt into the air and tried to catch one as it flew around the room, but Bella was more sneaky. She slid to under the table and placed her hands on her head, feigning hiding from the letters but instead she slid one into the backs of each of her socks and one into the waistband of her jeans. Even if her Uncle or Aunt searched her now, they would probably think she were hiding only one.

Thankfully they didn't think to, and instead they just dragged the twins and Dudley out and shut the door. The phrase 'out of sight, out of mind' rang through Bella's head, but she bit her tongue. Those were the kinds of smart remarks that got Harry in trouble. Once they were all in the hallway Uncle Vernon snapped.

'ALRIGHT! EVERYONE BACK HERE IN FIVE MINUTES, READY TO LEAVE!' he screamed, his face a worrisome purple colour.

Everyone just looked at him confused and a little scared. He sighed.

'Just pack some clothes, we are going away. No arguments!'

Even Dudley decided not to argue. Bella thought that maybe he did have some brains after all, but quickly dismissed it as she carefully walked up the stairs. As they entered their room, Harry sighed and collapsed onto the bed.

'I just want a letter, is that so bad?' he said, placing an arm over his eyes and Bella smirked. She grabbed a rucksack off of the side and quickly crammed as many of Harry and Bella's clothes into it as she could. She then walked over to the tin and waved, trying to get his attention. When he finally noticed, she placed a finger to her lips in a shushing motion. She opened her tin and emptied the contents into their bag and then proceeded to lift her top, showing him the letter that was tucked into her belt. Harry beamed and went to speak but she shushed him again. The last thing either of them needed was for anyone to catch them and take both of their letters away.

With both the letters stashed at the bottom of their bag with 4 small squares of chocolate wrapped in the bright purple cover, their clothes concealing them all, they headed back downstairs to meet their extended family, who were already waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Well with the exception of Dudley who was trying to delay leaving by walking down the hall at a snails pace.

After getting into the car, they drove. And they drove. And well, they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask her husband where they were going, and instead focused on staring out the window while her husband muttered 'Shake 'em off…. Shake 'em off' over and over. Every now and again he would turn the car around and drive in the opposite direction for a while. They didn't stop to eat or drink all day, and Harry was desperately tempted to fish around his and his sisters bag for their chocolate just for something to eat. He didn't though.

Every year, Bella and Harry tried to sneak some chocolate from Dudley just in time for their birthday and would share it as a sort of gift to each other.

By nightfall, Dudley was howling. He had never gone so long without eating something or playing on his computer games. He'd apparently missed five television programmes he had wanted to watch, and had never gone so long without blowing up an alien. Uncle Vernon finally gave in and pulled in at a grubby looking hotel on the outskirts of some big city, and although they were grateful for the stop they had to share a room with Dudley. They would not be able to open their letters. Bella frowned deeply and silently walked over to one of the twin beds that she would have to share with Harry. She lay her head down on the pillow, finding little comfort and lay with her eyes open listening to Dudley snore. Harry just sat in an armchair and looked out the window at the shimmering lights of the city in the distance.

Breakfast the next morning consisted of stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast, and just when they had finished Uncle Vernon sat up sharply and almost shouted for them to hurry up and leave.

What Harry and Bella didn't know, was that Uncle Vernon had been spooked by a off looking man wearing a maroon coloured cloak. He immediately remembered the day in which the Potter twins had arrived on their doorstep and all the strange people around wearing exactly that kind of attire.

'Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?' Dudley said as Uncle Vernon hurried them out of the hotel and into the car. They didn't stop again until they reached the coast. Uncle Vernon jumped out of the car, locked it and began to walk away. Rain splattered against the roof of the car, and Harry briefly wondered if maybe Dudley was right and Uncle Vernon had indeed gone mad. The thought, however, was short lived as Uncle Vernon came back about an hour later with a man in tow. He handed Mr Dursley a set of keys and then he smiled brightly. Harry looked over his sister, only to see her as confused as he was.

'Come on everyone! I've found the perfect place!' Uncle Vernon cheered enthusiastically. He unlocked the car and pretty soon after, all of them were seated in a small rowing boat. They were headed to a small island, that Harry and Bella could barely see as the rain splattered on their glasses.

'I've got us some rations!' Uncle Vernon cheered over the rain as he rowed, and Bella shivered. Harry wrapped his arms around her, trying not only to keep her warm but to possibly warm himself up too. When they reached land, the Dursley's jumped out of the boat desperate for some shelter and pretty soon they were inside.

It wasn't much warmer inside, but it was dry at least. Uncle Vernon started rambling on, assigning the sleeping arrangements and to their dismay they had to share with Dudley again. The twins tried to wipe the water off their glasses but failed as there was more water in the clothes they were wearing than on the glasses themselves. They stumbled around until they reached a small bathroom of some kind and immediately started to get changed. Most of the clothes in their bag were dry, and Bella hoped that they letters were ok. Harry went to dig them out but Bella shook her head. One of the Durlsey's banged on the door and Bella raised an eyebrow. Harry nodded knowing that they once again had to wait, and they left the bathroom feeling warmer and dryer than they had since they left the car.

As night fell, the storm raged around them, and Bella and Harry were the only ones who weren't asleep. They could hear the constant rain and wind echoing around the creaking hut, and moved closer to one another. There hadn't been enough blankets for all of them, so Bella and Harry were left to using two of Dudley's over-sized jumpers for warmth. They tossed and turned, but sleep was unable to come to either of them. 'Bella' Harry whispered and she rolled over on the floor to look at him.

'Yeah?' she whispered, and it was barely heard over the noise from the storm and the pig they were sharing a room with.

'Wanna read them now?' Harry asked and Bella grinned brightly. She nodded and quietly pulled the bag closer to them. There were a few candles dotted over the fireplace, but hardly any light otherwise. They shuffled closer and pulled out each of their letters.

Dudley's watch beeped, causing Bella to jump. Harry looked over as the screen lit up.

'Happy Birthday Bella' he whispered.

'Happy Birthday Harry' she replied, and pulled the chocolate out of their bag. They split it evenly quickly and bit into the chocolate. Grins flooded their faces, and they couldn't contain their joy. They rarely got chocolate or any dessert of any kind unless Dudley didn't want it, and it just made them love it all the more. After they finished they grabbed their letters and began to rip the seal open. Taking a deep breath, Bella began to pull out the letter when a loud noise made her jump and drop her letter to the ground.

BOOM!

The whole shack shook and Harry's face turned to face the origin of the offensive noise. Someone was outside, knocking.

**Review's are welcome.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for Reading.**

**As always: Disclaimer!**

**So here it is.**

– CHAPTER FOUR –

Impossibly Large Pockets

The loud boom echoed again throughout the shack and this time Dudley awoke. Bella groaned and quickly grabbed hold of her brother's arm. She snatched the letter from him and bent to pick hers off the floor. She hated that they were yet again interrupted while trying to read the letters, but it would have to wait now that their cousin was awake. Her grip was so tight that her knuckles were slowly turning white, and she tucked the two letters down the back of her jeans, in the waistband. It was how she had always managed to smuggle things around the Dursley's house since she was very little, as she wore Dudley's old clothes which were even larger on her than they were on her brother.

'Where's the cannon?' Dudley asked stupidly, and Bella rolled her eyes. Harry idly thought that he was either half-asleep or stupid, but quickly decided on both as the boom echoed again.

BOOM!

The sound of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia thundering down the stairs behind them filled their ears, and Bella could see out of the corner of her eye that her Aunt and Uncle were both as pale as ghosts.

'Who's there?' Uncle Vernon asked, unusually frail for him. 'I warn you – I'm armed!'

Harry turned his head to see that Uncle Vernon was indeed armed with a long rifle. Then there was a pause.

SMASH!

Harry's head snapped back around just in time to see the door fall to the ground. The door came to the floor with a deafening crash and then only a shadow could be seen of a giant figure stepping through the doorway. Dudley made a squeaking noise and fell over the back of the couch as a pair of black beetle eyes opened. Bella stopped shivering completely and stood as still as a statue, while Harry just gaped at the man that now stood before them.

His face was almost completely hidden by a long tangled beard and shaggy hair. He was wearing some sort of large coats, which was an odd beige colour and had probably hundreds of pockets. The giant man bent down to pick up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. Harry noted then, that the giant man could barely stand up straight in the house. The giant man turned back to them all then.

'Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey….' The giant said. Bella let out a little gasp and Harry tore his eyes away from the giant as she stepped behind the fireplace. Harry followed her, using the time that the giant used to shake his head to get rid of some of the water. Harry thought he looked a little like a dog when he did it, but his thought didn't last long. It was a small gap where the wall stuck out, and the two of them barely fit, but it would have to do.

The giant strode over to the couch where Dudley was cowering behind the couch who then ran to hide behind his mother, who herself was hiding behind Uncle Vernon. He took a seat on the lumpy sofa and looked over at the Dursley's.

'An' here's Harry!' said the giant. His voice was loud and excited, and Bella's grip on his arm tightened once again. But he wasn't looking at Harry at all. He was looking at Dudley. 'Where's yeh sister?' he asked him, and Bella's eyes widened.

'I-i-I'm not Harry,' he stuttered and looked over to where the twins were hiding. Harry took a deep breath and stepped out of the dark corner.

'I am Harry' he muttered quietly, and the giant turned to face him. The giant just sighed and smiled kindly.

'Of course you are.' He said. 'Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes.' He paused and his eyes crinkled. 'Where's yeh sister?'

Bella stepped forward, so she was out of the darkness and smiled shyly at the giant.

'I'm Bella,' she said, blushing. The giant smiled and opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted when Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.

'I demand you leave at once, sir!' he said. 'You are breaking and entering!'

'Ah shut up Dursley, yeh great prune,' said the giant. He reached over the back of the sofa and jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made out of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room. Uncle Vernon made another funny noise and it sounded like a mouse being squished.

'So,' the giant said, turning his back to the Dursley's. 'A very happy birthday to the two of yeh, Harry and Bella. Got sommat for yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but I imagin it'll taste fine just the same.' The giant then rummaged around in his impossibly large pockets for something before grinning and pulling out a fairly large white box tied with a green ribbon. He handed it over in the direction of the Potter twins and Harry took it, smiling kindly. He opened it and both the twins smiles exploded as they witnessed what they had just been given.

For inside the package was a large chocolate cake with the words _Happy Birthday Bella & Harry_ written on top in green icing.

Bella looked up at the giant and smiled. 'Thank you,' she said sweetly, but then her brow furrowed. 'But who are you?'

The giant man chuckled.

'True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. But everyone calls meh Hagrid.'

He held out one enormous hand and Harry shook it carefully, his whole arm moving.

'So how about that tea then 'eh?' Hagrid said in his strong accent and looked over at the fireplace. He shook his head laughing quietly and pointed a bright pink umbrella at the stone archway and muttered a few words. It was then that a small fire roared to life and warmth started to consume Bella. She smiled gratefully, closing her eyes to bask in the warmth before going to sit opposite Hagrid on an old rickety chair. She watched as he pulled out a copper kettle, sausages, a poker, several mugs, a teapot and several squashed teabags and got to making some tea. Soon after the whole shack was filled with the smell of sizzling sausages, and it made Bella's stomach rumble.

Nobody said anything while the giant worked, but Dudley could help but fidget when he smelt everything.

'Don't take anything he gives you.' Uncle Vernon whispered harshly at his son. The giant just chuckled darkly.

'Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' any more, Dursley, don' worry.'

He passed the sausages to Harry and Bella who were so hungry, that they doubted they had ever tasted anything so delicious in their lives.

After she finished her food Bella finally broke the silence.

'I'm sorry, but we still don't know who you are,' she said kindly, smiling at him grateful for the food.

'Call me Hagrid, everyone does,' said the giant. 'An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts – yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.'

'Er - no,' Harry said shaking his head.

Hagrid just opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

'Sorry,' Harry whispered and both he and Bella looked down at the floor.

'Sorry?' Hagrid barked and the twins jumped in their seats. 'It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents leanrt it all?'

'All what?' Bella said.

'ALL WHAT?' Hagrid thundered, and the Dursley's all jumped. 'Do yer mean ter tell me,' he all but growled. '-that these two – neither of them! – knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?'

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Bella grabbed hold of his wrist shaking her head.

'DURSLEY!' Hagrid boomed. 'They know nothin' about _my _world. _Our_ world. _Their PARENT'S_ world.'

'What world?' Bella asked, curious.

Uncle Vernon muttered something under his breath and Hagrid just stared at Bella and Harry.

'Yeh must know about yer mum and dad,' he said. 'I mean they're famous. You're both famous.'

Bella's brow crinkled. Confusion filled both of their faces and Harry said 'What? My – my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?'

Hagrid's beetle eyes widened. 'Yeh – Yeh don' know…. Yeh don' know….' He said as he ran his hands through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.

Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.

'Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell them anything!'

Hagrid then turned his attention onto Mr Dursley who, with one single look from the giant, began to almost quiver where he stood. Bella almosr felt bad for her Uncle, but she couldn't help but think that as long as the giant didn't hurt him, he deserved being a little scared. Harry, on the other hand, wished he were the giant.

'You never told them?' Hagrid said in a raised voice. 'Never told them what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer them? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from them all these years?'

'Kept what from us?' Harry asked, louder than he would speak normally, as he leapt up from his seat.

Hagrid turned back to the twins, as Bella stood from her seat to stand in front of the giant man. 'STOP I FORBID YOU,' Uncle Vernon screeched but Hagrid continued anyway.

'Yer wizards,' he said with a gleam in his eye.

Aunt Petunia gasped in horror.

'We're what…?' both the twins asked in confusion. Surely it had to be some sort of mistake or practical joke. There were no such thing as wizards.

'Wizards,' he repeated with a big grin. There was no going back now. 'well technically yer a witch Bella, but it's all the same.' He sat back on the sofa then, filling up three-quarters of it on his own. 'It'll make more sense when yeh read both yer letters.'

Bella nodded and walked over to where she had dropped the two faded envelopes with emerald green writing and picked them up. Uncle Vernon exploded when he saw that not only did Harry have one, but that Bella did to.

'Where did YOU get THAT?' he screamed, with the words you and that coming out with probably more venom than he should have put in his voice. Hagrid glared at him for speaking to his niece in such a way, but Bella was used to it.

'I got it the first day, when Harry got his first letter,' she paused then for dramatic effect and then continued. '…I'm sorry Uncle Vernon, did you not want me to have it?'

Harry could barely keep in his laughter, as he knew what she was doing. If there was one thing she was good at it was playing the innocent card. Although she was a terrible liar and actress, she could charm the pants off of anyone with her sweet routine.

She passed Harry's letter to him, while Uncle Vernon just gasped for air while colour returned to his face. He started to blush an odd pink colour and Bella smirked from beneath her hair.

They both opened their letters and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter/Miss Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find the enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term will begin on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than 31st July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Harry and Bella looked over to the others letter after they had finished reading their own letter and saw the exact same thing written but with the others name at the top. Questions swelled within the pair of them, and they couldn't decide what to ask first. After a few minutes of reading and re-reading their letters Bella finally spoke.

'What does it mean, they await my owl?' she said, tilting her head slightly her eyebrows furrowing. Hagrid jumped with a star then, knocking the sofa backwards in his rush to reach a small pocket inside his coat. He pulled out an owl, who was very much alive and hooting at hi in displeasure Bella gasped and reached forward to try and touch it, only to have it jump onto her outstretched am. She smiled and stroked his feathers, laughing slightly as he gave her an affectionate nip on her cheek. Harry too stroked the bird with a smile, but watched Hagrid as he wrote a letter on a small slip of paper. He was muttering what he was writing as he wrote it down, and harry could barely hear what was said.

Dear Mr Dumbledore,

Made sure they read their letters. Taking them to buy their things tomorrow.

Weather's horrible. Hope you are well.

Hagrid

Hagrid then rolled up the note and gave it to the owl, who clamped it in his beak and flew out into the storm. Hagrid sat back down then and stroked his bushy beard saying 'Now, where was I?'

'They're not going.' Uncle Vernon said almost sternly then. Everyone looked at him then, Harry and Bella had almost forgotten he was even there. Hagrid just grunted.

'I'd like to see a Muggle like yerself try to stop him,' he said.

'A what?' Harry asked.

'Non-magic folk.'

'We swore when we took them in we'd put a stop to all that madness,' said Uncle Vernon, 'swore we'd stamp t out of him!'

'You knew?' Harry blurted then. Bella's eyes widened. She had not considered that perhaps the Dursley's knew what they were, although it did make sense when she thought about it. After all, they had been desperate in their attempts to take the letters away.

'Knew!' shrieked Aunt Petunia. 'Knew! Of course we knew!' How could you not with my perfect sister being who she was. We have a witch in the family, isn't it wonderful?' She scoffed then, rolling her eyes and stepping towards the twins. 'I was the only one to see her for who she was – a freak! But oh no, my parents were so proud to have a witch for a daughter. It was always Lily this and Lily that. And then she met that Potter, and they had you two and I knew that you'd both be just the same, just as well – abnormal. Oh and then, of course, she went and got herself blown up! And we got landed with you two!'

BLOWN UP?' Bella shouted, pushing past rry and storming forward to stand in front of the Dursley's. 'BLOWN UP?' she screeched again. 'YOU SAID OUR PARENTS DIED IN A CAR CRASH!'

Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed. Normally he was t hot headed one, but when it came to any information about their parents Bella jumped into action.

'A CAR CRASH!' Hagrid echoed. 'A car crash kill Lily and James Potter! It's an outrage, a scandal! Harry and Bella Potter not knowin' their own story when every kid in our world knows their names!'

'But why? What happened?' Harry asked urgently before his sister could explode again.

The anger faded from Hagrid's face then, and he actually looked nervous.

'I never expected yeh both to know so little 'bout our world,' he said in a completely calm voice, before shooting a glare at the Dursley's.

He paused, as if he were deciding if he were going to regret his decision to tell them anything.

'It all starts, I suppose, with a man called – well I don' like dayin' the name if I can help it. No one does.'

'Who?' Bella said, but Hagrid just continued as if he had never heard them.

'But you was only babies, an' you lived. I took yeh both from the ruined house myself with a few other Professors, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…'

'Who?' Bella asked louder, wanting to know who killed her parents.

'Huh?' Hagrid said, as if he had been lost in a deep thought. 'Oh – well his name was Vol –' he stopped mid word and frowned. 'His name was Vol –' he stopped again and a look of pain flashed across his face. Then in a small whisper he said 'Voldemort.'

Uncle Vernon let out a barking laugh. 'What a load of old tosh' he said still laughing. 'Now you listen here, I accept that there are some strange things about you two but the world is better off without your parents in it. The got what they asked for by mixing it up with those wizarding types-' but he wasn't allowed to finish.

Harry was too busy holding back his screaming sister, whose anger was probably parallel to his own and the giant man's. Harry just didn't want her to do something she would regret later. The candles on the mantel piece began to hover then, each turning on their side towards the Dursley's and dripping wax onto the floor. Dudley screamed and ran to hide in the corner of the room, while Mrs Dursley wrapped her arms around him to cower with him. Uncle Vernon on the other hand just turned bright red and began to back up. Hagrid noticed and pulled out a bright pink umbrella. He stepped in front of Mr Dursley and muttered something under his breath. The candles went out and then he turned. He towered over Mr Dursley and spoke in a dark tone. 'I'm warning you Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word…' He fell silent and Hagrid breathed heavily

Harry knew it would be best to start asking questions again in order to keep his sister from repeating what she had just done.

'What happend to Vol-' Hagrid's gaze snapped to them and he broke off mid sentence.

'You-Know-Who,' Hagrid said, with wide eyes. 'Well he disappeared. Some say he died, but that's codswallop in my opinion. No I reckon he's still out there. But one things fer sure, something about you two stopped him that night. That's why everybody knows yer names, and that's why yer both have the exact same scar.'

Harry and Bella looked to each other then. They had often wondered why they had lightning bolt scars in the exact same places, and now they knew.

'To be honest, I think he's still out there somewhere. Too weak to carry on, bidin' his time. People who were on his side came bac k ter ours. Some of 'em cane outta trances. Xon' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.

'Why not?' Bella asked.

'Gulpin' gargoyles, Bella, people are still scared. Terrible things happened when he was at large. It was dark days. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't get friendly with strange witches or wizards. He was takin' over, but o' course some stood up to him – like Dumbledore and yer parents. And he killed 'em. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of, he didn' dare try takin' the school.'

He paused then, and looked up at Harry and Bella with tears in his eyes.

'Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head Boy an' Girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before he….' He paused again and ran his hands through his beard.

'Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em to give you two up….. maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way…..All anyone knows is that he turned up in Godric's Hollow, the village where yer were all living, on Hallowe'en ten years ago. Yer were both just one year old. He came ter yer house an' – an' –'

He blew his nose on a dirty hankercheif that he pulled out of one of the pockets before stuffing it up his sleeve.

'Sorry, it's just so sad.'

Bella wiped her eyes inconspicuously, but Harry noticed and pulled her into a small hug. He too was becoming a bit teary, but was managing to keep it in check.

'You-Know-Who killed 'em,' Hagrid continued. 'An' then – an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill yer both too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. That cut on yer foreheads, that aint no ordinary cut. A mark like them only comes from being hit with a curse an' an evil curse at that. It took out most of yer house, but not you two. That's what makes yeh two so famous – no one's ever survived before. He has killed some o' the best witches and wizards of the age – the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts – an' you was only a baby….' He trailed off and wiped his eyes again.

Harry thought about what he had learned for a minutes and then said 'Hagrid, I think you've made a mistake. We can't be wizards…'

Hagrid chuckled. 'Not wizard's 'eh? Never made anything happen when you were angry or scared?'

Harry thought back to the snake at the zoo, and Bella blushed.

'Yeah the candles were you Bella, no doubt in meh mind that yer a witch and wizard. Yer going to be right famous at Hogwarts.'

Uncle Vernon spoke again. 'Haven't I told you they aren't going! They are going to Stonewall High and they will be grateful for it. I've read those letters and they need all sorts of rubbish – spell books and wands and –'

'If they want ter go, then a Muggle like yerself won't stop them.' Hagrid said sternly. 'They'll be with youngsters of his own sort and they'll be under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen, Albus Dumbled-'

'I WILL NOT PAY TO HAVE SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!' yelled Uncle Vernon and Hagrid grabbed his umbrella again. He pressed it against Uncle Vernon's small amount of neck and spoke in a dark tone.

'NEVER – INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!' he all but roared.

He then pointed his umbrella at Dudley, who in a violet flash, grew a curly pigs tail. Uncle Vernon roared. Aunt Petunia fainted. Dudley clapped his hands over his bottom and started howling. Harry and Bella started laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes. The Dursley's finally fled the room, leaving the Potter twins with the giant man.

They turned to him, their laughter subsiding and Hagrid said to them 'I shouldn'ta lost me temper, am' I'd be grateful if yer didn't mention to anyone outside o' here what happened I'm technically not meant to do magic.'

Hagrid pulled out a gold pocketwatch then and screwed up his eyes to look at the tiny numbers engraved on its face.

'We'd best be off, lots ta do tomorrow. Gotta get up town an' get all yer books.' Hagrid shrug off his coat then and wrapped it around the twins. Bella grabbed their bag quickly and they followed him out into the storm.

'Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I lost a couple of dormice in one o' the pockets.'

They followed the giant until he stopped in front of an old motorbike.

Bella and Harry just smiled.


End file.
